A few months ago, the Spirit staff was tasked with commemorating Southwest’s 40th anniversary, which takes place on June 18, 2011.
I’m sure that, at least once, each of us nervously asked ourselves, What could we possibly do in the magazine that would capture the impact Southwest has had over the past four decades? We wanted something fun (it was a birthday celebration, after all), historical, but without the stodginess, and forward-looking. After much brain wracking—and several trips to the SWA archives—we came up with a feature package for our June issue that we thought fit the bill: 40 lessons learned from Southwest, the anatomy of a successful airline, a candid conversation with Gary Kelly and Herb Kelleher, 40 ways to celebrate (including, if you can believe it, 40 free music downloads), and, finally, LUV letters from Customers over the years.
But we weren’t done just yet.
While the 40 free downloads would take care of the soundtrack, you can’t have a party without presents! That’s where the 40 Days of Prizes sweepstakes comes in. Starting June 1—that’s tomorrow—and continuing for 40 days, we will be giving away one birthday present per day. We’re not talking noisemakers and confetti here. You probably won’t want to re-gift a two-night stay at the Aria penthouse in Las Vegas, tickets to Blue Man Group, or a Florida beach vacation. (Check spiritmag.com for a complete list of prizes.) What’s the catch? You can only enter once a day, and airfare is not included. If you’d like to receive a daily email reminder about the prize of the day, click here. Also, we’ll be giving you a weekly rundown of the winners right here, so be sure to check back.
Best of luck! And Happy (early) Birthday, Southwest!
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